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- #023 - 5 Leadership Lessons You Can Steal From ANTS
#023 - 5 Leadership Lessons You Can Steal From ANTS
And Why They Are Better Than Humans.
Leon van der Laan
June 10, 2023
👋🏻 Welcome to this week's edition of Refresh. Rethink.
Last week, my presence was eerily absent. I disappeared into the serene wilderness for a digital detox, leaving behind the chaos of screens.🌳🌲
But fear not; your beloved Leadership Newsletter has returned with a vengeance! 🥳
Today, we embark on an extraordinary expedition into the realm of collaboration, drawing inspiration from the tiny but mighty creatures known as ants. 🐜🐜🐜
Hello there
These industrious insects have much to teach us about effective teamwork and achieving remarkable results through collaboration.
The Marvels of Ant Collaboration
Ants are renowned for their remarkable teamwork and unwavering efficiency. Despite their diminutive size, they display astounding collaboration skills, constructing intricate colonies and accomplishing extraordinary feats. Each ant selflessly fulfills a specific role, contributing to the overall success of the colony.
✅ Let's unearth some key lessons we can learn from their extraordinary collaboration.
Pro-active Communication:
Ants communicate through chemicals called pheromones. They leave trails of it to guide others to food sources or new nest locations. Quite nifty or? Effective collaboration in organizations thrives on clear and open communication. It's not about reacting to issues but proactively communicating with purpose and intention.
✳️ When I led a 200 people organization in Italy as a 26-year-old warehouse director, I faced huge issues with communication.
The more I tried to communicate, the more it created chaos.
Then it struck me; I was doing it wrong all along. More reactive communication wasn't the solution; it was intentional, purposeful pro-active communication where I had to put my focus. It made all the difference.
Division of Labor:
Ants divide tasks based on their unique abilities and strengths. Some gather food, while others tend to the young or defend the colony. Similarly, recognizing and harnessing your team member's individual skills and talents drives optimal performance and productivity. Who doesn’t want that?
✳️ To date, I've completed over 250 Clifton strengths finder tests for my clients. And every time, the effectiveness of it blows me away. It's a personal assessment that reveals one's strengths, and is an excellent tool for managers to divide responsibilities and get to the strongest parts inside of their colleagues.. Focus on strengths works. People love it.
Shared Vision:
Ants work towards a shared vision of the colony's survival and growth. Instilling a sense of purpose and fostering shared goals within your organization fuels collective motivation and drives progress.
✳️ One of my clients had zero goals when I came on board. Zero. Nulla. They didn't believe in goals. I couldn't believe my ears. But with compassion, I started teaching them why and how. 3 months later, they had a shared vision. Now they're triple in team size and revenue while being 100% remote.
Duty:
Ants exhibit an unwavering commitment to their tasks without complaining. They possess an innate sense of duty. As a leader, focusing on raising intrinsic motivation within your team fosters a similar sense of duty and dedication.
✳️ A lack of duty is often a lack of intrinsic motivation. Focus on raising play, purpose and the growth perspective in one’s role and you’ll see an increased sense of duty rising like a morning sun.
Adaptability:
Ants swiftly adapt to changing circumstances, seamlessly finding alternative food sources when one disappears. In today's dynamic business landscape, cultivating collaboration necessitates embracing adaptability and being open to change.
✳️ Adaptability is a mindset. If you see failure as a loss, so will the people in your teams. They’ll stiffen and freeze rather than adapt. Change failure into learning, and adaptability increases with it.
Persistence and Resilience:
Ants exemplify unwavering determination, persistently working towards their goals, overcoming obstacles, and adjusting their strategies as needed. Have you ever put a rock on their path? They'll go right over or around it.
✳️ Lack of resilience is often emotional. It’s a state of being. Practice empathy to understand your team's emotions during setbacks. Build skills to collectively let go of emotions around whatever is going on, and resilience increases with it.
🐜 Ants don't micromanage.
🐜 Ants don't try to win over others.
🐜 Ants don't play corporate political games.
In a way, they understand the organization better than we humans.
🐜 Ants are truly remarkable creatures, and we have much to learn from their harmonious cooperation.
And when thousands of ants unite, they create the pinnacle of organizational achievement.
🐜 I love ants.
One more thing; I must confess a childhood wrongdoing: I sincerely apologize to all the ants I wronged in my youthful days. I now recognize the extraordinary value they bring to the world.
🐜 Sorry ants.
Wishing you a serene and contemplative weekend.
Warm regards,
Leon
Do you want to know how others have gained a 2x in team and revenue working with me?
When you’re ready, reply to this email with the word “ Leadership,” and I’ll get you the details.
Jure Knethl
“ In the year we worked with Leon, we grew from 9 to 32 team members and 5x our revenue. We received great feedback from the team about our leadership; we had many promotions inside the team, building up our positioning, and we can finally say that we are following the vision co-created and followed by the team”.